Disclosure on blogs is one hot topic at the moment. The FTC is already looking at regulating blogs and this week the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) has called out two companies for unethical practises.
The group found that Herbal Groups, Inc. and Urban Nutrition had posted reviews for products they owned, yet failed to disclose that fact.
Urban Nutrition has since added disclosure to its web site, stating “Urban Nutrition sponsors this Web site and distributes Miracle Burn, Miracle Burn Cream, and Arctic Essentials. Reviewers compensated by Urban Nutrition.”
Herbal Groups, Inc was found to be pushing one of its products via a free blog, including making unsubstantiated claims about a product’s benefits. It subsequently took down the blog.
An interesting couple of cases, though surely just the tip of the iceberg. I’m all for disclosure, am not against compensation per se, but blogging needs to be as transparent as possible.
What do you think?
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